Geography

Syria is between latitudes 32° and 38° N, and longitudes 35° and 43° E. It is mostly arid plateau. The area bordering the Mediterranean is fairly green. The Euphrates, Syria's most important river, crosses the country in the east.

The climate in Syria is dry and hot. Winters are mild.

Politics and government

Syria is a republic. The old Constitution of Syria was started on 13 March 1971.[6] It made Syria as a secular socialist state. Islam was the majority religion. A new constitution has been in place since 2012.

State control

Nearly all of Syria’s radio and television outlets are state owned. The Ba'ath Party controls nearly all newspapers.[7]

Human rights

Syria's human rights are among the worst in the world, according to human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch.[8] The authorities arrest democracy and human rights activists, censor websites, detain bloggers, and have travel bans.

Governorates

Syria has fourteen Governorates, or muhafazat. The governorates are divided into sixty districts. The governorates are:

Military

The President of Syria is commander in chief of the Syrian armed forces. There are about 400,000 troops. Males must go in the military when they are age 18.[9]

Economy

Syria is a middle-income country. The economy is based on agriculture, oil, industry, and tourism.

Transport

Syria has three international airports (Damascus, Aleppo and Lattakia). They are hubs for Syrian Air. Foreign airlines also fly to them.[10] Most Syrian cargo is carried by Chemins de Fer Syriens, the Syrian railway company.

Civil war 2011-

Since 2011, there has been a civil war between pro-government supporters and rebels who oppose the government. Over 80,000 people have been killed in this war according to United Nations.[13] The United Nations Security Council has condemned the mass killing in Syria in May 2012 but in vain.

Tools

Content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use Privacy Policy. Content of this web page is sourced from wikipedia ( http://simple.wikipedia.org). Some content of the original page may have been edited to make it more suitable for younger readers, unless otherwise noted.